


Siren Song

by ghostly



Category: Free!
Genre: (kinda), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Aquarium AU, Fluff, Implied Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Implied Matsuoka Rin/Nitori Aiichirou, Kid Fic, Love at First Sight, M/M, Merman Nanase Haruka, Teacher Makoto Tachibana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 17:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1992351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostly/pseuds/ghostly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“That’s you, Tachibana-san!” His student pointed out an impossibly tall figure with green eyes in the drawing. “And that’s the pretty mermaid!” Separated by a blue line, was a fish-tailed, blue-eyed figure. His stick arm was reaching toward the blue line, and the Makoto in the drawing was doing the same. There was also an alarming number of pink hearts in the picture. “The mermaid is saying it’s in love with you, Tachibana-san! Like Ariel and Prince Eric!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Siren Song

**Author's Note:**

> Hm, so, this idea came to me and it was impossible to stop until I've finished the fic. Here's some things I thought I should say:  
> \- The mermaid show is inspired by a real aquarium attraction. I'm not sure how common it is though?  
> \- The last time I went to an aquarium I was like, eight and I can barely remember it ahskjhs also, I have no idea how it actually is to work at aquariums. Or anything about aquariums really. So, expect a lot of inaccuracies.  
> \- I messed up with some characters' ages, I hope you guys don't mind it too much.  
> \- English is not my first language, if you find mistakes please inform me so I can correct it! ♥

Makoto was already regretting this school trip. Try as he might, the children just wouldn’t stay put in line they were so excited at the sight of the great glass-walled building of the Iwatobi Aquarium.

“I WANT TO SEE THE OTTERS.” Momotarou was practically vibrating.

“I saw them hundreds of times, my sister works here I can come whenever I want to.” Rin boasted, crossing his arms.

Nitori, bless him, snatched Rin’s hand back and held it, like Makoto had instructed. “What’s your favorite part, Rin-kun?”

“The sharks.” Said the little redhead, with a smile similar to said fish.

When the last child left the mini bus, Mikoshiba gave Makoto and Miho a thumbs up.

“Okay, children.” Miho said, gathering their attention. “Remember: stay in line, and don’t let go of each other’s hand! The aquarium is really big, it’s easy to get lost – but if you do and you can’t see me or Tachibana-san or Mikoshiba-san, go to one of the uniformed staff of the aquarium.”

The children all assented, some seemingly more understanding of the danger than others, but they all respected Amakata-san and would do as she said – what didn’t always happen with Makoto, with him being quite young, what led to a more fraternal relationship with his students. Miho started leading the way to the aquarium, and Makoto stuck close to his class, Mikoshiba doing the same to his.

Miho had scheduled the school trip with the Iwatobi Aquarium, so when they got into the building, there was already a member of the staff waiting for them. It was a young blond man, wearing the aquarium’s blue uniform, and he seemed as excited as the children.

“Hello everyone! I’m Hazuki Nagisa – please just call me Nagisa – I work here at Iwatobi as a tour guide and I’m also a handler, I’m in charge of the penguin’s exhibit!”

A little girl squealed “penguins!” and all the children started to talk animatedly about the animals – Rin and Momotaro soon started an argument about sharks versus otters.

“Hey, hey” Nagisa said, “Don’t worry, we’ll get to see all of them! If you all listen very closely, you’ll learn all about the marine life. Now, who here watched Finding Nemo?” With the children’s cries of “me! Me!”, Nagisa laughed. “Our first stop is at a fish tank where you’ll see Nemo and Marlin’s species, the clown fish! Follow me!”

Makoto chuckled at the children’s wide eyed excitement, some bouncing on their feet.

Nagisa led them in a tour through the aquarium, always talking animatedly and capturing the children’s attention. The children were very enthusiastic about the dolphins, and Makoto was particularly fascinated with the enormous tank of the orcas. They stopped for a snack after the sea lion’s exhibition, and Makoto ate with his class listening to their plans on becoming animal trainers after seeing the aquarium's handler feed the big mammals. He smiled softly at their antics and commented they would have to study hard for that, being met with determined expressions.

They saw the otters (Momotarou almost banged his head in the glass, giggling loudly at every move they made in the water, and how they played with each other; Rin finally conceded that they were pretty cool, but the sharks, that they still had to see, were more badass), the penguins (Nagisa had a lot to talk about them, and also about the handler that was currently feeding them, a tall guy with red glasses) and finally the sharks (Rin talked about them as much as Nagisa, and Makoto had to admit he was impressed at the boy’s knowledge; though not as much as Nitori, whose eyes were shining with admiration).

“Now, we’re at the end of our tour…” Nagisa said, and the children all whined loudly, even if some of them were already displaying signs of tiredness. “But we still have to see our most special exhibit, and we’re just in time!”

Makoto wondered what animal was left, and for Nagisa to give them such emphasis. They arrived at an empty tank, illuminated with the same soft blue light as the others. There were already some people waiting, what only made Makoto even more curious.

A song started playing in the aquarium’s speakers. It was a light voice, speaking in a language Makoto didn’t know, with an alluring tone. In the water, the lights started dancing, and amidst the blue glow, something jumped into the water.

The long, graceful form swam away from the cloud of bubbles, and one of the children gasped, sounding completely overwhelmed, “A mermaid!”

That wasn’t quite right, thought Makoto, for it was a mer _man_. The flat chest left no doubt of it, even if his lower half consisted of a fish tail with light blue scales. The merman swam closer to the glass, and the children pressed themselves to it. The merman waved, and the little ones laughed delightedly and waved back.

The merman swam away again, making loops in the water, moving graceful and natural.

“It’s so beautiful!” A little girl said, fascinated, and Makoto couldn’t help but agree. The merman’s black hair fluctuated around his face in short silky strands, his aquamarine eyes seeming inhumanly bright in the pool’s light, the lean muscles moving with each stroke of his arms.

The merman disappeared briefly when he came up for air, and then dived again to the children’s cheers. He swam close to the glass again, and when Makoto came to himself he was almost pressed to it. He blushed when he noticed that the merman’s eyes were on him. Their gazes stayed locked, and Makoto felt almost dizzy, enchanted. He pressed his left hand to the glass, and slowly the merman mirrored him. He only had time to notice how his large hand dwarfed the other’s before the merman swam away again.

“The mermaid likes Tachibana-san!” Little Chigusa squealed, and Makoto blushed furiously when Mikoshiba laughed loudly.

 

-

 

The days after the visit to the aquarium, Makoto’s students talked about little else.

They were drawing, and Makoto took his time going at each of their desks, commenting on their drawings and helping them out. Rin’s drawing had a lot of red and grey, and when Makoto (a little wary) asked what it depicted, Rin explained that it was himself as the Shark King, and all the sharks were his friends – at Nitori’s hopeful stare, he drew with his purple crayon a little misshapen figure which he proclaimed to be Nitori, to which the kid beamed. Nitori’s own drawing was of the class at the aquarium, himself and Rin at the center of the picture, holding hands.

Other kids drew their favorite animals (Momotarou’s drawing not surprisingly consisted of a pool full of otters), but more than half of the class drew the merman. He stopped at Chigusa’s drawing—

“That’s you, Tachibana-san!” His student pointed out an impossibly tall figure with green eyes in the drawing. “And that’s the pretty mermaid!” Separated by a blue line, was a fish-tailed, blue-eyed figure. His stick arm was reaching toward the blue line, and the Makoto in the drawing was doing the same. There was also an alarming number of pink hearts in the picture. “The mermaid is saying it’s in love with you, Tachibana-san! Like Ariel and Prince Eric!”

Makoto felt stupid to be blushing at something a kid who could barely write their own name said.

 

-

 

Makoto always went to his parents’ house in the weekends. Despite still living in the same city, during the week he never had time to visit because of his classes.

They were all eating together at lunch, and he was telling them about his week.

“Nii-san! I want to go to the aquarium too!” Ran exclaimed, and Ren nodded enthusiastically. They were always jealous of the attention Makoto gave his own students.

He chuckled. “I’ll take you sometime, okay?”

“No! I want to go today!” Ran continued, standing up in her seat, and only sat again at their mother’s scolding.

“Makoto has to rest, you can’t push him like that.” She said, and Ran came around the table to hug Makoto, mumbling her apologies.

“It’s okay.” He said, smiling softly. His heart started beating a little faster right before he said: “I’m not too tired, we can go today. We probably won’t be able to see the whole aquarium though…”

“Yay!” Ren exclaimed, standing up too and jumping on his older brother. “It doesn’t matter, nii-san! I just want to see the penguins!”

“And I want to see the mermaid!” Ran said, just as excited.

Makoto gulped down. Me too, he thought.

 

-

 

The aquarium was a lot more crowded at the weekend, and after seeing the penguins, dolphins and the orcas, they stopped at the mermaid exhibit. Makoto looked at the folder he had gotten at the entrance, seeing the ad on the front page: “ _SIREN SONG! Fairytales come true at Iwatobi Aquarium’s new attraction!_ ”. There was also the schedule of the exhibitions, and below a picture of a shimmering blue scaled tail.

The song started playing, and Makoto tucked the folder back into his pocket to watch the show. Just like last time, the lights danced and the merman jumped into the water in a cloud of bubbles. The children gasped, his siblings amongst them, and went forward to plaster themselves on the glass and wave at the merman.

The merman swam gracefully, waved at the children, and did loops and turns for their entertainment. Not as dazed as last time, now Makoto could now see where the fabric (latex?) of the tail met skin, and the scales that were painted on his hips. It was hard to believe that this man wasn't really born with a tail; he swam so effortlessly even with his legs restrained.

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

Makoto jumped almost a foot in the air, and turned to look at Nagisa smiling beatifically at him – though there was a rather wicked glint in his eyes.

“N-Nagisa-san! You startled me…”

Nagisa's smile only widened, and he pretended he didn’t notice Makoto avoiding his question. “It’s good to see you again so soon.”

“I told my siblings about the aquarium, and they wanted to come.” Makoto said gesturing to Ran and Ren, both so completely mesmerized by the merman they didn’t even notice their brother talking to another person.

At that moment the music was fading, and with a final wave, the merman swam away from their view. Ren and Ran turned to Makoto and Nagisa, and Makoto introduced them.

“Did you guys like the penguins?” At the kids’ excited exclamations of “yes!”, Nagisa laughed. “I’m their handler, actually, and it’s just time to feed them… Would like to see them swallow a whole fish down?”

“Yes!” Ran and Ren said together. “Please, nii-san?” Ren asked, clinging to Makoto.

At their puppy eyed look, Makoto had no choice but to agree.

Nagisa actually took them to a restricted area, and when they got near the penguins’ place, there was already a man pulling fish into buckets for their feeding.

“Nagisa, what are you doing? Who are these people?” He asked, bewildered.

“Rei-chan, don’t be such a sour puss! This is Mako-chan, _the teacher_!” Nagisa said emphatically, though Makoto had no idea why – but Rei seemed to understand, the way his eyebrows shot up. “And these are his cute siblings, Ren and Ran, who are very excited to see some penguins, right?”

The children jumped around in agreement, even if they complained about the fishes’ smell.

Nagisa put on thick rubber boots, and instructed them to stay on the outer side of the fence while he and Rei fed the penguins. Makoto carried both his siblings, one in each arm, so they could see better – they were getting heavy and his arms ached by the time the handlers returned, and he put them down again.

Some penguins followed Rei and Nagisa, and the kids laughed excitedly at seeing the animals so close to the fence.

“So, what did you guys think?” Makoto asked, when they made their way back, still in the restricted area, Nagisa leading the way.

“They’re big!” Ran said. “They looked so cute and small before, but they’re like this!” She stretched her arms the most she could, trying to illustrate their size.

“Yeah! And their feet are funny, they have black nails!” Ren commented, and Makoto laughed at the oddity of what caught his attention. He was still laughing when a door opened so suddenly he almost collided with it.

“I’m sorry!” He said mostly out of reflex, and then his words died in his throat when he locked eyes with the somewhat familiar blue ones.

“The mermaid!” Ran exclaimed, and then seemed to pause, frowning. “But…you have legs!”

“It’s because I’m dry.” The man said with a completely straight face. “I only turn into a mermaid when I’m in the water.”

“Cool!” Ren said. “I want to be a mermaid!”

“Me too!” Ran put her arms up.

“Haru-chan!” Nagisa called, turning back to them. “I see you’ve met Mako-chan!”

Haru turned his gaze to Makoto again, looking at him through his eyelashes. Makoto’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he still couldn’t manage to say a thing. When the silence stretched for too long, Haru looked down. “I have to go check the dolphins.”

He hastily walked away, despite Nagisa calling his name. Makoto couldn’t contain his disappointed sigh.

 

-

 

On Monday, Makoto’s class was finally distracted from their talk of the aquarium by the visit of a policeman. He went from class to class to talk about his profession and answer the kids’ questions. Yamazaki Sousuke was an intimidating man, taller even than Makoto, but extremely patient and kind with the children.

He showed the students his badge and let them try on his cap, but fortunately didn’t bring anything else. Rin asked the most questions, and by the end of the day he had decided he would be a policeman when he grew up.

“What happened to Shark King?” Makoto asked him when he was seeing the children being picked up by their guardians.

“I can be the Shark King _and_ a policeman; don’t be silly Tachibana-san.”

Makoto only smiled and agreed. Usually, Rin was picked up by one of his parents, but that day a young woman with the same hair color as him showed up.

“Gou!” He exclaimed running up to her, then stopping on his tracks right before her, seemingly remembering it would be embarrassing to hug her in front of his classmates. She giggled and mussed his hair, and he scowled.

“Rin-kun, go play with your friends for a bit, okay? I want to talk to your teacher.”

Rin frowned, suspicious, but soon caught sight of Nitori, and ran after him, screaming “STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!”. Nitori froze like a deer caught in the headlights, then dissolved into giggles when Rin captured him by hugging him, maintaining a firm circle with his arms around Nitori’s torso.

“They’re so cute!” Gou commented, stopping right beside Makoto. He agreed, smiling. “I’m Matsuoka Gou, Rin’s sister.”

“Tachibana Makoto.” He nodded at her.

“I’m also the administrative manager at Iwatobi Aquarium.”

Makoto suddenly remembered Rin talking about his sister working at the aquarium, and felt a blush warm his cheeks thinking about the last time he was there, how he made a fool of himself in front of Haru.

Gou smiled knowingly. “Rin talked a lot about the school’s visit at the aquarium. I think the children enjoyed it very much. It would be greatly beneficial to them if the school made another trip. We could give a 50 percent discount on the tickets.”

“A-another visit?” Makoto immediately thought about seeing Haru swim again.

“Yes! This time their guide could be Ryuugazaki Rei, he’s a biologist, he could teach a lot of new things to the kids.” Then her smile turned downright wicked. “And of course, I bet they would love to see the Siren Song exhibition again.”

Makoto gulped down, trying to keep breathing despite his embarrassment. Gou knew about his crush, she had to, with that face she was making. But _how_? He’d just met her! Was he a running joke with the aquarium staff?

“Did you know it was Haru’s own idea, the mermai— _man_ thing. We were trying to come up with something that would attract the public to the aquarium, and he suggested it. Turns out the costume makes swimming really difficult, he’s the only one who can do it convincingly.”

“Y-yes. Convincingly.” Makoto averted his gaze. “But uh, well, you should talk to Amakata-san about this; I really can’t make this sort of decision.”

When Gou agreed, looking very smug, he pointed out Miho to her. When she turned her attention away from him, he let his shoulders slump, relieved.

 

-

 

Little more than a week later, Makoto was again with his class at the Iwatobi Aquarium. The children were not as uncontrollably excited as last time, and actually listened to the trivia Rei taught them. Fortunately, Nagisa tagged along, and translated to the children the more complicated scientific jargon.

When it was time for the merman exhibition, Makoto was a pile of nerves. Nagisa and Rei kept exchanging knowing looks and he didn’t know what to make of it.

When Haru dived in, he couldn’t help but watch, mesmerized. He saw that Haru kept glancing at him, between waving to the children and doing his usual tricks. With the corner of his eyes, he also noticed Nagisa making exaggerated gestures at Haru.

Haru went up to take a breath, and when he came back, he swam close to glass, directly in Makoto’s line of sight. Despite his placid expression, Haru looked _nervous_ , Makoto realized, heart speeding up when Haru beckoned him closer with his fingers.

Dazed, as if under a spell, he walked forward until he smacked his nose on the glass, which startled him, and he backed away a little, rubbing his nose. Haru actually smiled at that, his eyes twinkling, and Makoto felt a little proud of himself, despite his clumsiness.

Haru swam the closest he could get to glass and– Makoto was sure he had just started hallucinating– pressed his lips delicately to the glass in a chaste kiss.

“I said the mermaid was in love with Tachibana-san!” Chigusa exclaimed, bringing Makoto out of his stupor.

He couldn’t believe what had just happened, and looked around disbelievingly – Rei just nodded at him, and Nagisa gave him a thumbs up, giggling himself silly.

“Here, Tachibana-san.” Momotarou said extending the notebook and the crayon he had been using the whole trip to draw otters. “So you can say something to the mermaid, I don’t think he can hear you because of the glass.”

Makoto took the items, but as soon as he got hold of the crayon he realized he had no idea what to write.

“Ask him to marry you, Tachibana-san!” Chigusa suggested.

Blushing to the roots of his hair, he decided on “ _Go out with me?_ ”. It was uncharacteristic bold of him, but Haru just had _kissed the glass_ for him in front of two dozen people.

He turned to the tank again, and Haru was waiting there, looking apprehensive. When he pressed the notebook to the glass, Haru’s eyes lightened up, and he nodded, a pleased little smile in the corner of his lips.

 

-

 

“And they lived happily ever after!” Chigusa finished her story, showing to the other students on her table her drawing of Haruka kissing Makoto’s cheek, the whole paper sheet covered by little pink hearts.

“Gross.” Rin said, making a face.

Momotarou frowned at the picture. “The mermaid’s got legs!”

“Yes.” Chigusa said, all-knowingly. “When I saw them at the fair, Mermaid-san had legs. He explained it to me; he only has a tail when he’s in the water, when he’s dry he has human legs.”

“Cool!” Said Momotarou. “I want to be a mermaid too!”

The children all agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: corrected a few minor mistakes i spotted while re-reading ^^


End file.
